Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Trading Down 4.7% – Time to Sell?

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF)’s stock price traded down 4.7% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $9.76 and last traded at $9.68. 3,107,937 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 12,506,197 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.15.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Glj Research decreased their target price on Cleveland-Cliffs from $14.54 to $12.90 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $12.50 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.43.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.37. The company has a market capitalization of $4.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.01 and a beta of 1.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The mining company reported ($0.68) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.65) by ($0.03). Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative net margin of 2.31% and a negative return on equity of 0.59%. The business had revenue of $4.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.46 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post -0.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cleveland-Cliffs

In other news, EVP Keith Koci purchased 9,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $10.81 per share, with a total value of $102,695.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 543,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,874,964.75. The trade was a 1.78 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John T. Baldwin purchased 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $8.70 per share, for a total transaction of $34,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 133,227 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,159,074.90. This represents a 3.10 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 23,500 shares of company stock valued at $243,095 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs in the third quarter worth $263,000. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC increased its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 299.8% in the third quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 1,987 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 1,490 shares during the period. Commerce Bank increased its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 342.8% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 116,870 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,492,000 after buying an additional 90,477 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 28.0% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,280 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $246,000 after buying an additional 4,215 shares during the period. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs in the third quarter worth $34,000. 67.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cleveland-Cliffs Company Profile

Cleveland-Cliffs is the largest flat-rolled steel company and the largest iron ore pellet producer in North America. The company is vertically integrated from mining through iron making, steelmaking, rolling, finishing and downstream with hot and cold stamping of steel parts and components. The company was formerly known as Cliffs Natural Resources Inc and changed its name to Cleveland-Cliffs Inc in August 2017.